r/interestingasfuck • u/Charming_History7423 • 12d ago

/r/all McDonald's in the 80s compared to today

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u/oojacoboo 12d ago

No, parents just took their kids to McDonalds back then. There were probably more birthday parties at McDonalds than anywhere else. They had the playground too. It was a family establishment.

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u/Pogeos 12d ago

It was like that just about 15 years ago and suddenly everything started changing to this unappealing style. Wtf they are thinking?

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u/blyan 12d ago

They’re thinking about maximizing profits and who their actual target demographic is

I’m not saying corporations don’t sometimes make mistakes but do you really think they made all those changes on a whim? Or do you think maybe there were countless focus groups and research projects going into how to get the most people consistently buying food there?

Yeah, back when we were little kids, going to McDonald’s was an exciting experience… but if a company like that wants to remain at the top, their target demographic can’t be children with no disposable income

No one nowadays is going to McDonald’s for “the experience”. People want some mediocre, predictable, semi-affordable fast food that they know exactly how it’ll taste. If anything, it’s shocking that it took them so long to realize that.

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u/Paddy_Tanninger 11d ago

They're thinking that folks are more likely to visit a clean looking place, and they're right. I used to go to McD quite a bit until they decided to get into political ads...and I can honestly say I probably wouldn't have gone half as much if McD was still rocking those grease covered brown floors and dirty looking decor all over the place.

I think all of our childhood memories are making those hindsight goggles a mighty tint of rose. Our parents generally thought McD was kind of gross and we basically stopped eating there once my brother and I were past the Happy Meal + Playplace age.

Their new strategy is probably better with their business model not so strongly hedged on a bunch of 1-10 year olds begging their parents to go somewhere they don't really want to go.